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Monday, December 31, 2012

Vasilopita - St. Basil's Bread to Start the New Year

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I'm sending all of you, wishes for health and happiness in the coming year. I hope that you and your families thrive, and that the New Year brings all measure of good things your way. I've been looking for recipes festive enough to start the New Year with a bang and, at the last minute, I found one cloaked in the tradition and lore of the Greek people and the liturgical calendar of the Greek Orthodox church. In Greece, January 1st marks the feast of St. Basil, as well as New Year's Day. Now, Basil was a fourth century bishop who wanted to return money, unfairly taken by others, to the poor of his Diocese. To accomplish that, he commissioned the baking of a sweetened bread that was to hide the coins and treasure being returned to their rightful owners. Somehow, everyone received exactly what had been taken from them and Basil is credited with the miracle. His gift to the people, is commemorated in Orthodox homes each year on January 1st, by the baking of a bread to which sweets and a coin have been added. For believers, the bread, which is called, Vasilopita, is the symbol of the sweetness and joy of corporeal and everlasting life. When the bread is prepared, a coin is usually kneaded into the dough and when it is cut the person who receives that portion of the bread is considered blessed. There are many recipes for Vasilopita and the bread can take many forms. I've chosen a simple recipe and even simpler form to share with you tonight. The date on top of the bread is a secular addition that has gained favor in recent years. This is a mildly sweet and anise-flavored bread that is traditionally cut at midnight by the head of the family. To honor the memory of St. Basil, he will cut a piece of the bread as a symbolic offering to the poor and needy of the world. The bread is lovely and the story is sweet. Here's how it is made.

Thank you for featuring this lovely New Year’s bread, and writing about St. Basil. The coin can be wrapped in some foil, just to keep things sanitary. The foil doesn't dissolve, and causes no taste or structural change to the recipe.Happy New Year to you. I'll be posting my Vasilopita recipe on New Year's Day, as I traditionally make it on New Year’s Eve. It has 16 egg whites!!!

What a lovely story, Mary. You teach so much through your blog and I appreciate that. The bread sounds wonderful and I love that the tradition carries on. Happy New Year blessings to you and your loved ones.

I saw this post on New Year's Eve morning and decided to bake this bread - it filled the house with a lovely, warm aroma and was a delicious treat at midnight to welcome the New Year. Thanks for the inspiration, Mary!

I hope to make this bread...we are old calendar Orthodox, so Dec. 31st is Sunday and Jan. 1st is Monday!!! ♥ Ginny, maybe you've never heard of St. Basil, because he made a bishop of Caesarea in the year 370 AD, which was a long time ago, but yes, it is true.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_of_Caesarea

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